Apparatus for forming sheets of glass.



ted G. 20, "11908.

DLJ. MURNANE..

APPARATUS Pon famme SHEETS or GLASS.

. AFPLIGATION FILED JULY 5, 1907, 901,725.

n. J. MURNANB. APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEETS 0F GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY E, 1907.

Patented Ot, 20, 1908,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lwmnhv: y Damm LLM umana rs1-: M @mi Wbnea (EN me@ www ` DANIEL J.MURNANEQoF Kil'niwoonf, Mis-sonni.y

APPARATUS Fon FORMING sHEEms 0F GLASS.

No.; 901,725.v

Sp eeication o1!A LetterslPaten-t;

Patnt'e Get. 20, 1-908.

Theil 'wh-om fitmayiconcem: p Y

Be it known that I: DANIL J. lVIUz'zriAlar.,

.axciti'zeii ofl'the' United States, residing at.

Kirkwood; Missouri, have invented certain 5 new and useful Improvementin' Ap}.iarat'us` frForming Sheets of Glass, ofwh1ch the l following isa'full,` clear, and exact descrip-- Jtion; vsuch as will enable othersskilled in the "art lto which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accon1- panyging drawings,l forming part ofthis specification, inwhiCh 1 Figure 1` `s a sideelevation of anapparavtus constructed in accordance with my ini 15 vention; Fig. 2'isanend elevation looking from the lefthand end of Fig. l, a portion ofthetruck` being broken away'and the `supply ofwire mesh also being omittedto morev lclearly showthe construction of the embed- View oftherighthand endA of the rcasting table.

- This invention relates toA apparatuses for forming sheets of glass;`

25 One object of my invention is to'proyide 30 duce a merchantableproduct.

iii l :Another object of myinvention is to provide an apparatus whichwill not trap `air. in the molten metal during the 'operation of'forming it into a sheet7 thereby producingglass that' is free from airbub-Y a sheet lof bbles. i

Other desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointedout. i

Briefly described, my apparatus comprises a casting table or levelsurface anda co- -gyoperating member having a curved surface of equalo1' greater area than the surface of Y the sheetl that is formed andadapted t0 travel over the table witha rocking niotion, therebyspreading the massof molten glass evenly. over the table andi producinga-sheet of glass having a smooth and level upper surface..V Theapparatuses which have. heretofore been in general `use forformingsheets of glass comprise a roller for spread-l.

i the mass of molten glass `over the table so that the upper surfaceofthe sheet is usually illed with transverse corrugations dingroll'er;and'Fig. 3 is a detail sectionall orl ridges. Furthermore, vas theroller travels over thetablel tofspread the molten glass, air

becomes trapped betweenth'e surface of the.

roller andv the-molten glass and thus causes `air bubbles to form in thesheet. After the sheet-has been formed both surfaces thereof are-sorough and uneven that it is necessary to first grind oifthe 'faces andthen polishV them to produce a transparent plate of glass havingstraight and true surfaces and these grindingand polishing operationsadd `greatly to `the cost of producing the`glass ue to the fact that agreat deal of the sheet is fconsumed. Vith my apparatus 'I am enabledtoproduce merchantable sheets :of glass at a much lower cost than washeretofore possible due to the fact that only one surface ofthe sheethas to be ground off and polished. y i

1 Referring to the drawings which illustrate one form of' my apparatus,1 designates'a casting table having a polished surlface 4 and 2designates asegmental-shaped memberhaving a curved polished surface ofequal or greater areathan the .sheet to be formed'and adapted to'travelover the table with airockingmotion to spread the mass of molten glassthereover to form a sheet. The table is provided with the lusual trang's3 which determine the thickness of the sheet tobe formed and preferablythe rocking member2 is provided with rack teethl which coperate withrack teeth 5 on 'the table to preventx said member 2 from slipping. Therocking'. member may be operated manually but I prefer to providemechanical means vfor moving it over the table, said means comprisingtwo winding shafts or drums 6 hav-V 'being secured to the rocking memberat a `point some distance from the curved surface thereof:

Instead ofVV having the table 1 stationary. said table can movelongitudinally and the `rocking member 2 be oscillatinglyl mounted on afixed axis or bearing. The mass of moltenglass `tobe formed into a sheetis dumped onto the table underneath the rocking member and said memberisthen actin. ated so that it will 'trav/el over the table and spread`outthe molten glass. As the rockmg member travels over the table it willforce the airahead of it and thusprevent any air from becoming tra pedbetween the surface of said member an the mass of molten glass so thatno air bubbles Will formin the sheet on account of the forming ormolding operation. The curved' surface of the member 2 is of equal orgreater area than. the sheet being formed so that no portion of saidsurface comes into contact with the molten glass a second time andconsequently theres no possibility of the rocking member becomingexcessively heated. A, rocking memberof this description can be used formaking Wire glass as Well as plate glass and I have thereforeillustrated the apparatuses comprising means for forcing a Wire meshinto a mass of molten glass during the operation of forming said massinto a sheet. Said ymeans consists of a corrugated embedding roller 8mounted on a truck 9 provided with Wheels 10 which travelon the trangs 3on the table, the end portions of the embedding roller being providedwith flanges 12 that -contact With the curved surface of the rockinmember 2. The embedding roller is provi ed with trunnions 13 that aremounted in ball bearings in blocks 14 on the truck and these blocks canbe adjusted by means of screws 15 so as to vary the position of thevembedding roller relatively to the table to change the position of thewire mesh in. the sheet. The truck is provided with stand ards 16 forsupporting a supply of Wire mesh 17 and the table 1 is'provided at itsrear end with a block or spacer 18""ivh'ich holds the Wire mesh spacedaway from the surface of the table, the end of the wire mesh beingsecured to Ahooks or projections 19 on the end of the table, as shown inFig. 3. In making Wire glass with an apparatus of this description, theend of the wire mesh is drawn down underneath the embedding roller 8 andis secured the hooks or projections 19 on the table. A. ladleful ofinolten glass 20 is then dumped onto the table in front of the embeddingroller and the rocking member is moved over the table in the directionof the arrow a in Fig. 1, the embedding roller forcing the wire meshdown into the molten glass and the rocking mem ber 2 spreading out themolten glass to form a sheet having a smooth and even upper surface. Aspreviously stated, the flanges 12 ou the embedding roller contact withthe curved surface of the rocking member so that said embedding rollerWill be rotated in the direction of the arrow b in Fig. 1 as the rockingmember moves the truck forwardly over the table and as the embeddingroller rotates upwardly, away from the molten glass, it will not trapany air in the glass. In the wire glass apparatuses heretofore in usewhich employed an embedding roller, the roller always rotated in anopposite direction to that of the embeddinfv roller 8 of my apparatus sothat the emhedding roller tended to trap air between the surface oflthe' roller and the molten glass and thus caused air bubbles to form inthe sheet. .This objectionable feature is entirely overcome by myapparatus as the embedding roller rotates away from the mass of glassand thus throws the air upwardly so that noair can be trapped to formbubbles in the sheet. It

is obvious that other means could be employed .for embedding the wire,and instead of moving the truck forwardly by moins of the rockingmember, said `truck coul( be drawn along manually.

Having thus described my invention, What'l l vclaim as new and desire tosecure by'Let-v ters Patent is: y

1. In an apparatus for making' wire glass,

a table and an embedding roller which travelsl over'the table androtates in a direction o f, posite to that in which it moves over etable; substantially as described.

2. An apparatus for making Wire glass provided with a corrugatedeinbeddingroller which rotates upwardly away from the molten glass intowhich it forces the Wire mesh; substantially as described.

3. An apparatus for making Wire glass, comprising a table, an embeddingroller adapted to travel over the table! 'gud pro vided with means forforcing a piece of Wire mesh into moltenglass, and a member oooperatingwith the table to form the ,glass into a sheet and also adapted torotate the embedding roller in a direct/ion op osite to.

that in which it travels over the ta le; substantially as described.

4. An apparatus for making wire glass, comprising table, asegmentabshaped roclring member adapted to travel over the table to forma mass of molten glass into a sheet, and a corrugated embedding rollerprovided with flanges of reater diameter than the ribs thereon, sai flanes being adapted to Contact with the curve surface of the rockin memberso that the embeddingV roller wi l be moved forwardly and rotated as therocking member travels over the table; subl stantially as described.

5. An apparatus `for making wire glass comprising a table, a segmental.-shaped member 'adapted to move longitudinally over the table with arocking motion to spread anlass of molten glass into sheet form and thencome to rest out of contact with thetop surface of said sheet, a truckthat is moved longitudinally over the table by said member, means onsaid truck forearrying a supply of wire mesh, means on the table forsecuring one end of the piece of wire-mesh and for holding it elevatedfrom the table, and an adjustable devicev on said' truck for embeddingthe Wire mesh in the molten glass; substantially' as described.b

6'. An apparatus for makingwire glass,

comprising a table, an embedding roller which travels over the table androtates in a signature in the presence of two Witnesses, di'rectinoposte t? that in which itfmoves this twelfth day of June 1907. over t'etabe 'or orcn@ a ieee o Wire T- mesh into a layer of molte glags, andmeans DAL HEL J MURNANE 5 fer nishing the top surface of said layer;Witnesses:

substantially as described. WELLS L. CHURCH,4 In 4testimony whereof Ihereunto aiX my GEORGE BAKEWELL.

